


write like you're running out of time

by LailaLiquorice



Series: loved so very deeply by a chosen few [6]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Fainting, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sleep Deprivation, cathy is a tired bean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 00:24:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20218750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LailaLiquorice/pseuds/LailaLiquorice
Summary: When Catherine Parr's tendency to work into the night leaves her exhausted beyond compare.





	write like you're running out of time

Cathy was a writer. It was a title she donned with pride now after all the secrecy she’d had to surround it with in her former life, and with the amount of time she dedicated to her work the other queens would joke that she was making up for all those lost centuries. But it hardly felt like work with how much she enjoyed it, and the addition of the internet meant that she could write and research things that she’d never have been able to before. She could spend hours on her laptop opening one tab after the other as she came across new things she wanted to look into, and with the exception of singing her heart out on stage or spending an evening in with her friends it was her favourite way of spending her time.

The problem came when that happened in place of sleep. But Cathy was fairly good at running on low sleep with the help of a lot of caffeine; it only really affected her when it started to happen several nights in a row.

After five nights in a row of staying up until gone 3am and even then only forcing herself to sleep because she knew she had a show to do the next day, the final day of the working week ended in Cathy accidentally staying awake all night because there was nothing she had to be fully alert for the next day. She paused from scrawling notes in her journal when she couldn’t stifle a massive yawn, and only then did the sunlight glowing beneath her curtains catch her eye. At first she just rolled her eyes at herself, assuming the sun was only just rising and she could still squeeze in a couple hours’ sleep.

But then she checked her phone and her stomach dropped when she realised that her alarm would have gone off by then if it was a show day. The sound of the front door closing added an extra weight to that reality since she knew it was Aragon heading to Church for the morning Mass. All she could do now was just make a start to the new day.

And in order to do that, her first port of call was the coffee pot.

Once she’d changed her clothes and tied her hair up, she headed downstairs to where Jane was already embarking on her weekly clean of the kitchen. “Morning love!” Jane called when she saw Cathy, giving her a bright smile as she paused from wiping down the cupboard doors. “You’re up earlier than usual.”

Cathy shrugged, making a subtle beeline for the kettle since she could already feel how heavy her eyelids were. “Hey Jane. I forgot to turn off my alarm and thought I may as well get up now,” she lied to Jane, feeling a little uncomfortable with how easy the lie rolled off her tongue. It was a skill that had saved her life once but she disliked using it now that she didn’t need to.

Laughing, Jane shook her head slightly as she said “Oh we’ve all made that mistake at some point or another. Since you’re here would you like some breakfast? I haven’t eaten yet so I can whip up something for us both.”

“That’d be nice, thanks.”

While Jane busied around the kitchen finding the ingredients for what looked like French toast, Cathy stayed by the kettle as she waited for it to boil. Her hand moved to spoon coffee granules into her mug completely of it’s own accord and she only had the energy to be vaguely concerned in the back of her mind how much she was running on autopilot. Jane’s voice in the background sounded so muffled that her words blurred together beyond recognition. As her eyelids threatened to close she gave her head a hard shake, but immediately regretted it when her head was left spinning.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to help with her dizziness, but the minute they were closed she could feel her grip on consciousness loosen. Her eyes flew open with panic but she was already falling, her attempt at regaining her footing doing nothing as she crashed to the floor with a pained groan.

“Cathy? Cathy!” came Jane’s alarmed voice calling her name, and her clouded mind just about registered the gentle hands supporting her to sit up. She couldn’t restrain herself from leaning her head into Jane’s palm as she felt Cathy’s forehead and asked “What’s wrong? What happened love?”

“I don’t know,” Cathy mumbled quietly. “I just felt really tired all of a sudden and… I don’t know, guess I had a wobble for a second.”

Jane watched her carefully for a moment, still crouched beside Cathy keeping her propped up. “That’s quite some wobble,” she observed, and Cathy just shrugged helplessly. “I think you might have fallen asleep standing there,” she added in a concerned voice, humming pointedly when Cathy dropped her gaze.

“I don’t know… maybe,” Cathy repeated quietly, not looking at Jane as she started to gently rub Cathy’s back. The soothing motions weren’t helping her stay awake even though they were nice, and something about Jane’s soft words with her overtired mind was making emotional tears prick at her eyes.

There was quiet for a moment before Jane asked her the exact question she’d been hoping to avoid. “How much sleep did you really get last night?”

Cathy squeezed her eyes shut with embarrassment. “I didn’t sleep,” she admitted, voice cracking a little.

“We talked about this love, you promised me that you were going to try and sleep more. I hate seeing you run yourself into the ground like this.”

While Jane’s voice was nothing but kind, the implication of disappointment in her words was enough to make an exhausted Cathy start to cry. “I know, and I’m sorry I’m letting you down,” she said, hurriedly wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie before Jane could see her tears. “It was an accident, I got wrapped up in what I was doing and just forgot to go to bed and then it was morning and it was too late and-“

“Oh sweetheart, come here,” Jane interrupted, pulling Cathy into a tight hug as she gave up trying to stifle her sobs. Jane’s solid form was a grounding support for Cathy who was practically trembling with tiredness and it was impossible not to give all her weight to the strong arms that held her close. “I’m not disappointed love, I just worry about you a lot. But you’ve got nothing to apologise to me for, ok?” she said in Cathy’s ear once her cries had quietened.

“Ok,” Cathy echoed in an unconvinced tone as she pulled back from Jane’s embrace, laughing quietly at herself as she rubbed one eye again. “I don’t even know what I’m upset about.”

Jane gave her a fond smile as she reached out and wiped the tears from beneath Cathy’s other hand with her thumb. “You’re tired love, that’s what happens,” she pointed out gently.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess.”

Chuckling quietly, Jane stood up and offered her hand to help pull a still-unsteady Cathy to her feet. “No coffee for you this morning, but would you still like that breakfast? You must be hungry if you haven’t eaten since last night.”

Cathy pretended to pout a little as Jane poured her coffee granules back into the jar, but nodded as her stomach rumbled in agreement with Jane’s statement. “Yes please, thank you,” she said, letting Jane sit her down at the kitchen table before she picked up from where she’d dropped everything when Cathy collapsed.

She sat quietly just watching as Jane finished making their food, only murmuring a few words when she was asked a direct question. “Let’s go and sit on the sofa,” Jane said when she’d finished, carrying both plates as Cathy shuffled after her into the living room.

The comfortable quiet continued as they ate, Cathy still feeling too drained to be much of a conversationalist and Jane seeming to understand that. It was only when she yawned and Jane gave her a knowing smile that she resumed what they’d talked about before. “I’m not deliberately trying to stay up late,” she said, leaning forwards to put her empty plate on the coffee table in front of them. “I just get distracted. I like working once everyone’s gone to bed because it’s quiet but I know you’re all still around, and I get so engrossed in what I’m doing that I just lose track of time.”

Jane nodded in understanding. “Have you tried setting alarms on your phone for when you should stop for the night?” she asked.

“I have, but I’ll just say five more minutes which turns into another two hours so I don’t think it’ll help.”

“Hmm,” Jane hummed thoughtfully. “If you like working at night then why don’t you sleep during the day? We all need naps every now and then but if you schedule a time in the day for sleeping it could really help you.”

Cathy blinked with surprise for a moment; as much as she did tend to fall asleep every now and then during the day she’d never thought of actually making it a part of her sleep schedule. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she said, glancing up at Jane as she added “But I like being around everyone during the day, I’d feel antisocial just going back up to my bedroom when everyone’s around the house.”

“Then sleep downstairs love, no-one will mind at all. It’s nice knowing you’re comfortable enough to let yourself sleep while we’re all around and I’m sure the others feel the same,” Jane said, placing a comforting hand on Cathy’s knee.

Smiling a little, Cathy nodded. “Yeah, that sounds nice. I’ll try. Thanks Jane,” she said, her words slurring a little as she tried to stifle her yawn.

Jane returned her smile as she pulled Cathy into another hug. “Anytime love, I’m always here if you need me,” she said, giving her one last squeeze before releasing her again.

When Cathy yawned widely, Jane gave a quiet chuckle at her apparent exhaustion. “Why don’t you make a start now?” she suggested, continuing when Cathy looked up at her with confused eyes. “You’ve got a while before Catherine gets home from church and the others start to wake up. Get some sleep in here and there’s plenty I can get done in here so you’ll have company.”

“Yes please,” Cathy said in a small voice. She wouldn’t admit it out loud but the sleepless night had left her hands shaking and her soul feeling a little vulnerable, so the thought that someone would be there watching over her was a great comfort.

Jane gave a pleased smile. “That’s what we’ll do then,” she said decisively, rearranging the cushions around Cathy to give her a makeshift pillow to lie down on. As she made herself comfy she felt Jane’s hands taking her the scrunchie out of her messy bun and running her hands through Cathy’s hair, which instantly made her feel even more tired than before as sleep tugged at her mind.

“Sweet dreams, love. I’m right here.”

Cathy let out a quiet noise which might have been a coherent ‘thank you’ if she hadn’t been so tired before she drifted off to sleep.

In the weeks that followed, Jane made sure to keep checking in on Cathy to make sure she was at least trying to get enough rest. More than once during the first week she peered into Cathy’s room before she went to bed to see her fast asleep at her desk with her head resting on her notebook, and the protests of “I was only closing my eyes for five minutes,” were firmly ignored as Jane used the opportunity to tuck her into bed for the night. After the second time of walking into the dressing room to see Cathy asleep under the desk she brought a pillow and sleeping bag into the theatre for her, and was thrilled to see them get plenty of use as Cathy used the time between shows as an opportunity to squeeze a quick nap in.

She knew that the war was fully won though when she came into the living room after running some errands one afternoon to have her greeting firmly shushed by Aragon. All five queens were in there – Aragon was reading, Anna braiding Kat’s hair, and Anne playing on her game console – but Cathy was curled up on one of the sofas tucked under a blanket and fast asleep.

Jane smiled. Carefully so as not to wake her up, she smoothed Cathy’s curls away from her face and kissed her forehead before sitting down next to Aragon with the embroidery she’d been working on lately. At long last Cathy was getting the rest she needed, and they were all there beside her just like a family was meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> And the final fic of this series is here!! It was a fun project to get me into writing for this fandom because I love h/c so much, but don't worry there's plenty more fic to come from me. 
> 
> I love the widely accepted headcanon that Cathy has a problem with her sleep, and this may or may not have been prompted by the fact that I also nearly collapsed from too many late nights a couple of days ago (sixcord friends you are fully allowed to yell at me). But Jane is the best at looking after her friends, and the image of the end scene in my mind is so sweet. I love domestic family feels so much.
> 
> I'm lailaliquorice on tumblr :)


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